Thoughts on the Divine Service
10. The Salutation
Dear friends,
Next up, the Salutation seems a fitting bit of liturgy to explore as Advent begins and we look toward celebrating Christ’s birth at Christmas.
Mary is just one more virgin betrothed for marriage in a town where nothing happens, but then the angel Gabriel appears to her and says, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” Here’s something interesting right away: usually when people see angels in Scripture, they’re jolted by what they see. (Think, for instance of those “sore afraid” shepherds in Luke 2:9.) Mary, however, is troubled by what she hears. So…what’s the trouble?
“Greetings” doesn’t sound troubling. In fact, the word is literally, “Rejoice!”
Likewise, “O favored one” doesn’t sound troubling. It’s good to be favored by God.
What’s left? “The Lord is with you.” Why would that be troubling? Because I think Mary takes it seriously. She knows that there’s a place for the Lord to be with His people, to dwell with His people, and it’s way down south in Jerusalem at the temple. When Solomon built the temple, since destroyed by the Babylonians, the Lord filled it with a cloud of glory and dwelt there among His people. If you wanted to be with the Lord, Jerusalem and the rebuilt temple is your best bet. Nazareth is not. So why does the angel say, “The Lord is with you?” What does the angel mean?
Gabriel explains, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30-33)
Wow. When Gabriel said, “The Lord is with you,” he wasn’t kidding. The Lord is very with Mary, inseparable for the next nine months, because He has become flesh and blood, and He is developing in her womb. The Lord can’t be much more with Mary than that! She is indeed highly favored. All generations will call her blessed.
Once we’ve finished singing the Gloria in Excelsis or “This Is the Feast,” the pastor turns to the congregation and says the Salutation: “The Lord be with you!” Our hymnal references 2 Timothy 4:22 for this: “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.” That by itself is fantastic: “with” can simply mean to share a common cause. As you are gathered in worship to receive the forgiveness of sins, the Lord favors and furthers your endeavor. But there’s more to it than that: to give you the forgiveness of sins, the Lord is present. Not just omnipresent, but as present with as with Mary: He dwelt in her womb, flesh and blood. In the Divine Service, all the liturgy builds toward the miraculous mystery that Jesus visits to share His same body and blood with you in His holy Supper.
There are two responses by the congregation. In Divine Service 1, the congregation responds to the pastor, “And also with you!” This is a delightful thing to put into a pastor’s ears, the assurance that Christ is present for his salvation, too. The more traditional response is in Divine Service 3, “And with thy spirit.” This response is called “the little ordination.” It’s also a comfort and a reminder: “Pastor, at your ordination you received the Holy Spirit to bring Jesus to us by preaching His Word and administering His sacraments. Fulfill your calling so that Christ is with us!”
By now, you can probably see the story arc of the liturgy: time and time again, we sing and hear texts of Scripture that announce that God is present with His people to save. So it is again with the Salutation: “The Lord be with you” is a statement of God’s presence for your good. Don’t be troubled by the greeting. Instead, rejoice!